Animal Logic creates an appliance war for Tooheys Extra Dry.
CGSociety :: CGFilm
September 12, 2005
Animal Logic has worked with BMF Advertising and Filmgraphics director Graeme Burfoot to bring home appliances to life so they can fight it out for the last beer in the fridge in the latest commercial for Tooheys Extra Dry.
Titled ‘War of the Appliances’, the advertisement was shot on location at an apartment in Sydney’s Woolloomooloo and features computer generated imagery to give human qualities to a vacuum cleaner, a washing machine and a pool cleaner.
The creative brief required the appliances to be animated and characterized to show their ‘dark sides’. The washing machine becomes a giant, lumbering wrestler and the vacuum cleaner is its cheekier, more nimble opponent before the svelte pool cleaner adds another dimension to the battle for the beer. VFX Supervisor Will Reichelt said the blocking and broad-strokes movement of the characters had been well planned ahead of time but there was still room for creative interpretation in the flourishes and touches of character.
Animal Logic producer Sarah Beard said the commercial involved making inanimate objects as lifelike as possible. “It had to be done in such an elegant fashion that, as a viewer, it seemed believable,“ Beard said. To achieve realistic 3D elements, Animal Logic artists took apart real appliances to study how they were assembled and how they worked internally. By doing this, they were able to get a sense of how the object would move on its own if it were able. The 3D appliances were modeled and matched identically to real ones, including each piece of plastic or metal, dents, bumps and scratches. Concealed compartments and hatches were modeled into the devices for rigging, in case they needed to animate open at some point in the commercial. It was essential that a seamless reality be achieved as the commercial features a composite of 3D appliances and practical appliances that were filmed on location.
The tussle begins in the kitchen, once the washing machine has seen the vacuum cleaner take the last bottle of Tooheys Extra Dry from the fridge. Chaos ensues and the appliances destroy everything in their path. Part of the challenge of making this look realistic was matching the 3D elements to the live action footage. The kitchen sequence was shot with a fine layer of water covering the floor. As the washing machine and vacuum cleaner fight they splash water so Animal Logic artists built 3D and 2D water splashes to integrate with the real splashes that were filmed in situ. Lead Compositor Leoni Willis said the challenge lay in creating a seamless interaction between the water on the floor and the washing machine’s movement.
The scuffle moves to the lounge room and more objects are sent flying. The lounge room sequence was shot in two takes and then retimed by Willis to allow the reactions of the environment to work with the animation.
In the following pool sequence, the bodies of the washing machine and vacuum cleaner were shot underwater using a moving camera with wire rigs to control their movement. The cables and pool cleaner were built in 3D and a 3D door was added to the washing machine. Animation of the appliance cables enabled their actions to be motivated according to the bodies’ positions on-screen and in-line with their ultimate goal of acquiring the bottle of beer.
For lighting of the underwater scene, caustics, depth fog and refraction of the background through the glass of the washing machine door as it opened were created and accurate depth of field rendered into the final passes that were sent to 2D.
A 3D particle system was provided for the bubbles, which Reichelt describes as the finishing touch to the underwater scene. These bubbles were combined with real bubbles and 2D-generated ones in the final composite.
Reichelt said he enjoyed the challenge of ‘War of the Appliances’ and rates it amongst his favorite projects. “It was a great experience for many reasons. It was fun to take bulky household objects that you wouldn’t ordinarily think of as characters and give them specific personalities, and integrating them into the dark, moody footage was also a fun challenge, especially having to match shots containing the live-action props. It helped greatly that the job was planned and executed very well right from the pre-production stage.“
Warren Brown, Executive Creative Director from BMF said, “Like the preceding Extra Dry advertisement ‘Tongue’, the success of the ad relied heavily on the effects being of the highest standard. The production teams at Animal Logic and Filmgraphics provided the technical and creative brilliance to achieve what in my view is a stunning result.“
Animal Logic artists worked with Maya for the 3D and compositing was done in Flame.
CREDITS:
Client: Lion Nathan Australia
Marketing Director: Margaret Zabel
Marketing Manager: Ben Slocombe
Brand Manager: Josh Gaudry
Agency: BMF Advertising
Art Director: Andrew Ostrom
Copywriter: Andrew Petch
Executive Creative Director Warren Brown
Agency Producer: Sue Stewart
Group Account Director: Lisa Ramsey
Account Director: James Cuff
Production Company: Filmgraphics
Director: Graeme Burfoot
Executive Producer Jude Lengel
Animation Director: Simon O’Leary
Editor: Sue Schweikert
Animal Logic team:
Executive Producer: Jacqui Newman
Producer: Sarah Beard
Line Producer: Pip Malone
Design & On-Set Supervisor: Jane Milledge
Visual Effects Supervisor: Will Reichelt
3D Team:
Mike Mellor
Andrew Lodge
Ben Falcone
Alwyn Hunt
Arild Anfinnsen
Steve Beck
Nathan Mitchell
Paul Jackovich
Brett Margules
Lead Compositor: Leoni Willis
Compositing Team:
Angus Wilson
Mark Robinson
Software Developer: Chris Bone
